sábado, 28 de enero de 2012

In this video Bjarke Ingels
shares his enlightened view on Hedonistic sustainability, challenging
the misconception that one must give up a portion of their comfortable
lifestyle in order to live sustainability. Ingels counteracts that
delusion with examples that illustrate the possibilities of sustainable
buildings and cities increasing life quality. He encourages architects
to embrace their expanded roles of becoming “designers of ecosystems” by
creating a world where our presence is not seen as detrimental to our
environment through the integration of our “consumption patterns and
leftovers” into our natural world. Ingels is optimistic as he shares
Hollywood’s copy of BIG’s Denmark Pavilion for the Shanghai 2010 Expo
in Iron Man 2. Ingels states, “If Hollywood starts ripping off
sustainable architecture to portray science fiction it could be a sign
we are moving towards Hedonistic sustainability.”

lunes, 23 de enero de 2012

Garrigues,
the law firm with the most tradition and prestige in Spain, has promoted during
2011 the move from it’s old headquarters in Seville to a new more emblematic
location in the center of the city with the objective of renovating the image
of it’s offices.

The
building, situated in one of the principal accesses of the city, is located on
the Avenida de la Palmera, a main artery designed with the Iberoamerican Expo
of 1929 in mind, forming part of a complex of offices designed in the 80′s, and
with approximate surface area of 6,000 sqm., and four stories tall, counts on
four entrances, public areas, interior distribution and an image that were all
inadequate for the current needs of the firm, in terms of function and
distribution of space, requiring a reconditioning and addition of the latest
building technologies, and an image in accordance with the professional profile
of the work space.

In this
fashion EDDEA was tasked with the all inclusive turnkey project at a fixed
price, with a limited time frame (Fast Track), including an audit of the
building prior to the rehabilitation, drafting of the project, construction
including installations, furnishings and integrated project management, right
up to the final stages, legalization, and post construction maintenance management.

In terms of
the design decisions, in dealing with an office building with a structure that
was present both inside and out, the greatest difficulty of the job consisted
in the elimination of those elements that impede a clear interpretation of both
the access points, and communication between spaces. In this sense the work
encompassing the atrium becomes one of the most important aspects of the
rehabilitation, giving prominence to the space, the light and unification of
colors and materials, so that through it’s sense of a scale we can clearly
identify the companies signature.

Lastly, the
program was distributed, prioritizing the public use of the access floor,
dedicating the greatest part of its space to reception, attention of clients,
meeting rooms, and lecture halls. On the rest of the floors we find the work
spaces, ordering the closed offices around the perimeter, along the length of
the facades and leaving the central spaces for open work areas, support
lounges, archives and communications.

viernes, 20 de enero de 2012

Long-established travel guidebook publishers Frommer's has issued data
on what it considers the world's 10 best airport terminals. On the flipside, it
also names the 10 worst and, as per US national USA Today, the ratings take
into account 'cleanliness, services, on-time departures, navigation and the
ease of getting to and from a city's center'.

On this basis, Saudi Arabia's Hajj Terminal, at King Abdulaziz
International Airport, is judged the cleanest, slickest-running and most
accessible airport terminal on Earth.

Constructed specifically for use by pilgrims flocking to the country to
participate in Hajj - the Mecca pilgrimage - it features an iconic tent-shaped
roof and can accommodate up to 80,000 passengers at any one time.

Best Airport Terminals

The full Frommer's list of the best airport terminals is as follows:

Jeddah
Hajj Terminal - Saudi Arabia

Leifur
Eriksson Air Terminal - Iceland

Seoul
Incheon Airport - South Korea

Wellington
"Rock" Terminal - New Zealand

JFK
Airport Terminal 5 - New York

Singapore Changi International Airport Terminal 3

Marrakech
Menara Airport Terminal 1 - Morocco

Madrid
Barajas Terminal 4 - Spain

Carrasco
International Airport - Uruguay

Bilbao
Airport Main Terminal - Spain

Worst
Airport Terminals

At the other end of the scale, Terminal 3 at New York's JFK is
considered the world's worst and it's one of no less than four US airports
represented in the worst airport terminals list. The same airport's Terminal 5
does make the top ten, but it's the only US airport facility in this position.

Now over 50 years old, JFK Airport's Terminal 3 is set to be knocked
down in three years time within a programme that's seeing Terminal 4 being
expanded. Originally constructed for the sole use of Pan American, it presently
supports Delta Air Lines operations.

In the words of Frommer's, this terminal presents scenes of ‘endless
immigration lines in a dank basement, an utter lack of food and shopping
options, three crowded and confusing entry points, and hallways that could have
been designed by M.C Escher for vomiting international travellers out onto an
underground sidewalk with no cabs available'.

jueves, 19 de enero de 2012

PANalytical is the market leader in analysis systems for x-ray
fluorescence (XRF) and x-ray diffraction (XRD). To further enhance its
leading position in x-ray systems and tubes, a new production facility
for x-ray tubes has been designed in Eindhoven. The new building must
not only be able to realize future growth, but must also further
increase operational efficiency.
The building has three floors that are related to the production
process; pre-assembly, assembly and final assembly. In total this
process covers about 2,000 m2. Stacking activities results in a compact
and clear building where the spatial layout is defined by the production
process. Adjacent to the production floors resides the research
facility (1,330 m2). Here are new products being developed and tested.
Thanks to an atrium, the research facility has direct visual contact
with production floors, without disrupting the specific room conditions.
In terms of structure and installations the building is modular in
design. The high purity system is modular as well, making ‘plug &
play’ connections possible. Combined with light separation walls and a
complete quick-response sprinkler system, the building is extremely
flexible. Functions are fully interchangeable thanks to the uniform
structural concept in terms of vibrations and floor load.

The mechanical systems largely determine the energy use for the
building. Therefore we explicitly sought to apply energy-efficient
solutions. The most notable solution is the heat pump which reuses the
heat generated by the process for building heating. This allows most of
the building’s annual heat demand to be covered by this process energy,
resulting in a significant reduction of natural gas consumption and
associated CO2 emissions.
Achieving a ‘stacked’ research facility had the advantage that the site
could be relatively small. The use of two submersible pumps instead of
the traditional sprinkler tank was even more space saving. Therefore it
was not necessary for PANalytical to purchase additional land.
All functions relating to the production process (discovery –
development – production – sales) are located around an atrium. The
atrium acts as a communication tool and guarantees synergy between
departments and, in particular, between people. All supporting
activities, such as meetings and relaxation, take place inside the
atrium.
The facades of the building are a reference to the refined machines
featuring the end product. The orange accents mark important moments in
the facade. The exterior of the building creates extra tactility and
refinement via the use of different types of profiled cladding.

An influx and increasing birth rate in the community situated to the
south of Vienna called for the creation of more, particularly state-of-the-art
child care facilities. Therefore a competition tender submission for a new
child care centre was issued in 2008. The existing 19th century ‘Gründerzeit’
school was to be extended by eight primary school classes, a after-school care
club and a kindergarten with kitchen.

The association of architects MAGK illiz won the competition and was
awarded the tender. The draft of the project team MAGK illiz breaks up the
construction into L-shaped bodies which are interlaced in such a manner that
different places and free spaces to play in and for learning are formed in the
interstices.

Good orientation and quick ways for children and adults are provided by
a simple routing system between the functional areas of the two-floor
ensemble. The new main entrance to the school is also the assembly hall
and connects the existing school building with the new building. The façade is
developed as a ‘pixeled’ white envelope. Format and joining patterns of the
“window pixels” meet the current utilisation needs whereby the rooms at the
back can be interpreted from outside and the recall value of the individual
building sections is enhanced. The façade surfaces alternate between smooth and
rough plaster which, particularly in grazing light, creates a vivid impression.

Unlike the high-contrast façade, the design of the interior rooms is
characterised by varying, finely tuned colour and material
combinations. The differing design of doors, cloakrooms and wall panels in
an individual range of colour for each area of activity facilitates finding the
way and increases their identification, particularly for the children. The
cloakrooms of the children’s groups are covered in wood and meander like snails
shells into private niches.

“Pixels” protrude into the
corridors and from the façade; they are used by the children as nests to read
and to cuddle up in. All activity areas have green and free surfaces. The
playground used for breaks turns into a climbing and adventure scenery by its
dazzling orange rubber surface, the roof terrace with the smoothly concreted
surface becomes a race course. Crèche and kindergarten form a common one to two
floor patio which forms a settled pacified centre surrounded by play corridors,
multi-purpose and action rooms. The colourful door and ventilation elements of
the room-high glass façade allow a for an event room to emerge which can be used
flexibly. There is a two-floor loggia of a white-coated welded grid and
coloured glass pain curtain to the west of the group rooms on the left, in
front of the kindergarten. It complements the monolithic character of the
building and is both a sunshade and fall-protection. Depending on the viewing
angle, the façade appears anything from transparent to closed, from the
interior, however, it embodies a protective second envelop, allowing the
smallest children a glance into the greenery and conjures colourful spots of
light in the room.

The material and construction concept is characterised by the high
standards imposed on ecological sustainability. To ensure the building period
was speedy, the new construction was setup in a composite construction method
with a solid core as storage mass and a prefabricated, high-insulation envelope
of timber frame construction, of solid wood panel structure respectively.

The entire new building complies with passive house standards, the aim
of which is greatest ease and comfort for the user at lowest possible operating
costs.. With an innovative ventilation concept it is possible to achieve a
minimisation of costs with regard to the operating times of the mechanical
ventilation. For this purpose the classrooms and group rooms are aired by
transverse ventilation via acoustic slot openings across the corridor zones
without noise from the corridor being transported into the classrooms. This
concept also technically ensures that overheating in summer is prevented
temperatures dropping at night. Thanks to efficient cost control the overall
budget could also be used to redevelop and renovate the existing gym in the
scope of this extension. Furthermore, the circulating strip lights could be
renewed and provided with circumferential horizontal, partially movable sun
protection louvers.

concept

The childcare centre of MAGK illiz is characterised particularly
sensitively by the traditional, small dimension structure of the surroundings.
The broken building volume is so interlaced that it by no means competes with
the environment.

first floor plan

Together with the existing classrooms, the new primary school, the crèche and the kindergarten form one of the largest childcare centres in Lower Austria after a mere period of three years needed for planning and building.